countdown
by lea michele
Summary: written for tropebingo over at dreamwidth. another soulmate fic, with a twist.


"So, then I said, why don't you just tell me what's going on? And then he said – Blaine? Are you listening?" Tina stopped mid-sentence, looking over at her best friend and business partner. Blaine was sitting anxiously in his seat, craning his neck to look toward the cockpit. Tina lifted her eyebrows.

"Blaine? Are you paying any attention to me? Blaine? Hello?" Tina reached over, snapping her fingers in Blaine's face. He blinked and turned, looking surprised to see that she was still sitting next to him. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. If he wasn't attractive and charming, she wouldn't have put up with half of the shit he pulled, and yet…

"You do realize we aren't supposed to land for another twenty minutes, right?" Tina asked. Blaine's lips twitched impatiently, and he glanced down at his wrist. Tina's eyes followed his gaze, and her eyes widened.

"Blaine!" She gasped, grabbing his hand and pulling it toward her.

Across every individual's wrist was a timer. It was a thin silver band that stretched along the underside of the wrist, and it counted down the time until one would meet their soulmate. A colored border surrounded it, each color representing a different thing. Pink was for those who had already found their soulmates, blue was for those who still had years, green for months, and days were a sunshine-y yellow.

Blaine's was lined in a bright, glowing red. He had only hours.

Or about one, as his timer declared, shifting from "1h, 0m, 0s," to "0h, 59m, 59s."

"You see my problem," Blaine said, tugging his sleeve jacket back over his wrist. Tina could feel a smile grow. She remembered the day she had met her soulmate – Blaine had been there, by her side, as she shook hands with Mike Chang and her band went from red to pink. Finding one's soulmate was the most exciting moment of a life. Tina couldn't believe she would get to see Blaine meet his. She turned, taking his hands into hers.

"This is so exciting! Oh, what do you think he'll look like? I hope he's handsome! Do you think he'll be handsome?" Tina gushed, grinning widely. Blaine couldn't help but smile. Tina's energy was infectious, but his nerves were overwhelming. He felt like his stomach was twisting into a thousand knots. The last thing he wanted was to throw up all over his soulmate's shoes, but with his luck, that was exactly what would happen.

After the excruciatingly long thirty-two minutes it took for the plane to land (complications on the ground held them up to the air, much to Blaine's dismay), and another six minutes to grab their things from the overhead bins and get onto the jetway, Blaine was about ready to faint. Would his soulmate come looking for him if Blaine didn't show up where he was supposed to?

Blaine glanced down at his wrist. Twenty minutes, thirty six seconds.

Tina took Blaine by the hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

"You're going to find him." She said, giving him a smile. He attempted to return it. It didn't go well. She laughed, walking with him out of the jetway. She let go of his hand to stand on her tiptoes, looking around for her soulmate, Mike. While they were technically engaged (Mike had popped the question practically the moment he had seen her), Tina's parents wanted them to wait a few years, at least, before they got married. As Tina always said, it gave them time to plan the perfect wedding.

She spotted him almost instantly (not really instantly, as Blaine's timer was now down to sixteen minutes and forty-eight seconds), and tugged Blaine over. Mike wrapped Tina in a hug, pressing a kiss to her lips, before turning to Blaine with a grin.

"You'll have to excuse him," Tina said, her arm wrapped around Mike's waist. "He's red." Mike's eyebrows lifted, and he glanced down at Blaine's wrist, which now flashed fifteen minutes, twenty-six seconds.

"We better get going, then."

Getting through the terminal was a lot harder than Blaine anticipated. Flying home on a Saturday was always difficult, but it seemed like everyone was determined to move at a molasses-like pace. Blaine couldn't contain his impatience. Somewhere, ten minutes away, his soulmate was waiting for him. It was a moment he had been waiting for since his timer had appeared. Sue him for being excited.

They finally made it to the escalators that would take them down to the tram, which would then zip them to baggage claim. From Blaine's estimates, that was where he would meet the love of his life. He could only hope they wouldn't judge him on his tattered and worn suitcase. Was it silly to be worried? He had heard some horror stories, of course, of people turning and finding their soulmate was a mortal enemy or something equally as awful, but that didn't mean that that would happen to Blaine.

Right?

Tina and Mike ushered Blaine down the escalators, waiting for the tram to arrive. Blaine hugged himself, checking his wrist every few seconds. Finally, the tram arrived, and Blaine practically ran on, securing a spot near the door. He clung to the pole, glancing down at his wrist.

Three minutes, fifty-eight seconds.

Three minutes, fifty-nine seconds.

Four minutes, zero seconds.

_What the hell?_

The doors slid shut and Blaine panicked.

"No!" He shouted, rushing toward the doors. He stared at the crowd milling out in front of the tram, and then at his wrist, and back at the crowd. He had missed his soulmate. Somewhere, out there, a person was looking for him just as eagerly as he was looking for them. _Please, please_, Blaine begged silently, _let me find them_. He pressed against the glass, ignoring Mike and Tina's worried looks, plastering his hands against the windows. Then, Blaine spotted him. Or, what he could only assume was him.

A blonde guy stood with a tattered guitar case in one hand. The other hand was held out in front of him, wrist up. A pretty blonde girl stood next to him, glancing around and speaking to him. The man turned around frantically, making eye contact with Blaine just as the tram took off.

Momentarily, his wrist flashed pink.

"Blaine?" Tina's voice drifted to him. Blaine turned, tears welling in his eyes.

"I missed him."

"What?" In unison, Mike and Tina spoke, their expressions matching. Blaine held his wrist out to them, showing how it was now counting up instead of down. Tina looked up at Mike.

"What does that mean?" Mike pressed his lips together.

"It means you have to keep waiting." Tina and Mike looked at Blaine solemnly, who stared down at his wrist in disbelief.

He had missed him.


End file.
